Reciprocating linear feeder



July 14, 1964 E. H. CRAVER 3,140,776

RECIPROCATING LINEAR FEEDER Filed Feb. 8, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Z'Zward/Tzi'd'rareg BY /fm ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,140,776 RECIPRQfZATlNG LINEAR FEEDER Edward H. Craver, Winston-Salem, N11, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Feb. 8, 1963, Ser. No. 257,337 7 Claims. (Cl. 198-221) This invention relates to a reciprocating linear feeder and more particularly to an apparatus for intermittently transferring articles in a spaced relation.

In the construction of automatic equipment of this type, it is desirable to maintain a simplicity of design to alleviate cost and maintenance difficulties. In order to accomplish this desired simplicity, the present invention utilizes a positive driven feeding member and reactive control elements which are responsive to the driven member, thus minimizing the necessity of expensive and complicated auxiliary or independently driven control elements.

An object of this invention is to provide a linear feeder having positive control over an article to be moved.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple transfer device which utilizes a reciprocating rod together with reactive elements to pivot the rod upon each movement to move article-engaging fingers into and out of position to advance articles along a surface.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a linear feed apparatus employing a minimum of powerdriven elements to positively and incrementally advance articles.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention contemplates an article feeder having an engaging finger or fingers which are reciprocated to index articles along a surface into a fabricating machine. The engaging fingers are secured to a rod that is mounted in a frame for both rotation and reciprocation. Upon completion of a forward movement of the rod to advance the fingers along the surface, a cam on the leading finger engages a spring-loaded plunger which reacts to rotate the leading finger, the rod, and the other fingers. The rod is then moved back to the original position, where a second spring-loaded plunger acts on a cam formed on the now leading finger to pivot this finger, the rod, and the other fingers back into the original position in anticipation of another cycle of operation.

A complete understanding of this invention may be had by reference to the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, where- FIG. 1 is a plan view of the linear feeder embodying the invention and showing article-engaging fingers in a horizontal position for moving articles; the phantom lines illustrate the feeder after completion of the feeding motion;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the feeder showing the article engaging fingers in a vertical position;

FIG. 3 shows a section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 of an engaging finger after the feeder has reciprocated to an initial position;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 1 showing the leading engaging finger at the end of the feed stroke;

FIG. 5 is a section taken along line 55 of FIG. 1 showing an intermediate engaging finger being pivoted from the horizontal (phantom view) to the vertical position; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an electrical and pneumatic system for controlling the feeder.

Referring in general to FIGS. 1 and 2, a feeder apparatus, shown having a base 12, a pair of upright mem- Zihldfifiifi Patented July 14, 1964 bers 13 and 14 attached to the base, and an article conveying surface 16. The upright members 13 and 14 support a shaft 17 which is connected to and spans the area between the upright members 13 and 1.4. The shaft 17 has slidably mounted thereon a feeder assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 18 which is comprised of an elongated cylindrical member or rod 19 and laterally extending engaging fingers or engaging members 21, 22, and 23. Each finger is provided with a hub 20 that is mounted on the cylindrical member.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pneumatic cylinder 24 is mounted on the base 12. A piston rod 2e extending in both directions from the cylinder 24 is connected at its opposite ends to brackets 27 and 28. These brackets 27 and 28 are in turn connected to opposite ends of the sliding cylindrical member or rod 19.

Attached to the upright members 13 and 14 is a guide plate 29 having slots 31, 32, 33, and 34 formed therein. The guide plate 29 is mounted above and parallel to the shaft 17, leaving a sufficient space between the base 12 and the guide plate 29 to permit movement of the rod 19 on the shaft 17. A vertical back plate 38 is also mounted between the support members 13 and 14 at right angles to the guide plate 29.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a first spring-loaded plunger 36 is mounted in and extending from the base 12, and a second spring-loaded plunger 37 mounted in and extending from a back plate 38. Also extending from the back plate 33 is a spring-loaded detent 39 which is placed in a position intermediate of the two springloaded plungers 36 and 37. A first microswitch 41 is mounted on the base 12 adjacent to the initial position of the article-engaging finger 21. A second microswitch 42 is mounted on the guide plate 29 adjacent to slot 31 in the guide plate.

The article-engaging finger 21 is shown in FIG. 3 as being positioned under the slot 34 of guide plate 29 so that a camming surface 43 formed on the article-engaging finger 21 is in contact with and has depressed the spring-loaded plunger 37. FIG. 4 shows another finger 23 at the completion of the feed stroke as shown in the phantom lines in FIG. 1 with a camming surface 44 formed thereon in contact with and depressing the first spring-loaded plunger 36. In FIG. 5 the intermediate finger 22 is shown as having a groove 46 formed in the finger 22 to engage a spring-loaded detent 39.

It should be noted in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 that each of the hubs 20 has two fiat surfaces 47 and 48, formed at right angles for cooperating with the guide plate 29 to prevent rotation of the engaging fingers during reciprocal movement of the rod 19 and the fingers.

A diagram of the electrical and pneumatic system for controlling the reciprocation of the fingers is shown in FIG. 6. An air line 51, which serves as a source of compressed air, is connected to an on-oif pressure regulator 52 which in turn is connected to an inlet port of a two-way solenoid-operated air valve generally designated by the numeral 53. The outlet openings of the air valve are connected through air lines 54 and 56 to the pneumatic cylinder 24. Valve actuating rods 57 and 58 extend from opposite ends of the two-way valve 53 and are connected to the armatures of solenoids 61 and 62. The solenoid 62 is connected in a circuit including a source of electrical energy 63 and the second microswitch 42. The solenoid 61 is connected in a circuit including a source of electrical energy 64 and the first microswitch 41.

In the operation of the article feeding apparatus, the initial position of the feeder assembly is shown in FIG. 1 with the feeder assembly positioned at the right-hand side of the apparatus and with the article-engaging fingers 21, 22, and 23 in their horizontal positions for engagement with the articles 9. Upon opening the regulator 52, air pressure is applied through the air lines 54 to the air cylinder 24-, the piston rod 26, and consequently the feeder assembly 18 connected thereto is moved to the left, advancing the articles 9 along the surface 16 to the position shown in the phantom lines in FIG. 1. When the leading finger 23 reaches a position under the slot 31 in the guide plate 2?, the camming surface 4-4 on finger 23 will depress the first spring-loaded plunger 36. When the finger 23 registers with the slot 31, the fiat 48 no longer cooperates with the guide plate 29 (FIG. 4) to prevent rotation of the finger whereupon the plunger 36 acts to push against the finger 23 and pivot the finger 23 into a vertical position as shown in FIG. 5. Rotation of the finger 23 into the vertical position manifestly eifectuates the rotation of the rod 19 and the fingers 21 and 22. Upon rotation of the fingers, the groove 45 in finger 22 engages the ball detent 39, as shown in FIG. 5, to maintain the fingers in a vertical position against the action of gravity. When the laterally projecting portion of the finger 23 moves into the vertical position, the microswitch 42 is closed to energize the solenoid 62 (FIG. 6) to advance the two-way valve 53 to the right, thus connecting the air line 56 with the source of compressed air. Piston rod 26 is consequently moved to the right to advance the feeder assembly 18 to the initial position. While the fingers are moving to the right, the flat surfaces 47 cooperate with the guide plate 29 (see FIG. 3) to prevent rotation of the fingers from their vertical positions. As the feeder assembly completes its movement, the camming surface 4-3 on finger 21 contacts and depresses the spring-loaded plunger 37. When the finger 21 is positioned beneath the slot 34, the depressed plunger 37 acts to rotate the finger 21 back to its initial horizontal position. The rotation of the finger is possible because the flats are now positioned in register with the slots. The rod 19 and the other fingers are also rotated back into the'horizontal position. Upon pivoting of the finger 21 to the horizontal position, the finger strikes the first microswitch to energize the solenoid 61, thereby moving the two-Way valve to the left and opening the air line 54 to the air source. The piston rod 26 moves to the left initiating another cycle in the operation of the feeding mechanism.

As an alternative mode of operation, the second microswitch 42 may be mounted so that its operation will be controlled in conjunction with the operation of an external device or machine which is working on the articles being fed. Therefore, the operation of the external machine will control the reversal of the air applied to the cylinder 24, and thus control the cycling of the feeding device depending upon the needs of the machine rather than the automatic cycling operation described.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article transfer device having an article engaging member mounted on a rotatably and axially movable rod,

a camming surface formed on said article engaging member,

a guide means mounted for cooperation with said article engaging member to prevent rotation of the member during axial movement of the rod,

said guide means having a slot formed therein,

means for axially moving said rod to advance said article engaging member into alignment with said slot, and

means responsive to the axial movement of said camming surface for rotating the article engaging member.

2. In an article transfer device an elongated member having a laterally projecting feed arm,

means for mounting said member for rotational and longitudinal movement,

an elongated guide plate mounted adjacent to said member, said plate having a slot formed therein,

means on said member engaging said guide plate during longitudinal movement for preventing rotative movement of said member,

means for longitudinally moving said member to advance the guide plate engaging means into alignment with said slot, and

means rendered effective upon advance of the guide plate engaging means into alignment with the slot for rotating said member.

3. In an article transfer device having reciprocating and pivoting fingers attached to a rod for engaging and moving articles along a surface,

means to reciprocate the rod,

a guide plate for preventing pivoting of said fingers during reciprocating movement of said rod, said guide plate having slots for receiving the fingers during pivoting into and out of a line of engagement with said articles,

a pair of resiliently urged plungers for pivoting said fingers when said fingers are aligned with said slots,

a first cam surface on one of said fingers for cooperating with one of the plungers to pivot the fingers out of the line of engagement, and

a second cam surface on another of said fingers for cooperating with the other plunger to pivot the fingers back into the line of engagement.

4. In an article transfer device a rod having an article engaging member extending therefrom,

means for mounting said rod and article engaging member for rotative and axial movement,

said article engaging member having a camming surface formed thereon,

a guide means mounted for cooperation with said article engaging member to prevent rotation of the member during axial movement of the rod,

said guide means having a slot formed therein,

means for axially moving said rod to advance said article engaging member into alignment with said slot, and

means responsive to the axial movement of said camming surface for rotating the article engaging member.

5. In an article transfer apparatus,

a cylinder having a plurality of axially spaced and laterally extending feed fingers,

means for mounting said cylinder for axial and rotative movement,

a plate having a series of slots spaced apart a distance equal to the axial spacing of the fingers,

means adjacent each finger on said cylinder for engaging said plate to prevent rotation of said cylinder,

means for reciprocating said cylinder to alternately move said engaging means into alignment with adjacent slots, and

means rendered effective at the end of each movement of said cylinder for rotating said engaging means through said slots whereby the cylinder rotates to alternately move the fingers from one plane to another.

6. In a transfer device having a pair of engaging members to move articles in a first direction,

means for mounting said engaging members for axial and rotational movement,

camming surfaces formed on said engaging members,

a guide plate for preventing rotation of said members during movement in said first direction,

said guide plate having a pair of spaced slots,

a first resilient member cooperating with one of the camming surfaces formed on a first engaging member for urging said engaging member to rotate out of the line of contact With the article when said engaging member is aligned with a first slot in the guide plate,

means for sequentially moving the engaging members in said first direction and retracting said engaging members to their initial position, and

a second resilient member rendered effective upon retraction of the other camming surface into alignment With the second slot for moving said engaging member into a line of contact with the article.

7. An article feeding device comprising a base,

an axially and rotatably movable member mounted on the base and having flats formed therein,

means projecting from said movable member for engaging and moving articles along said base,

a pair of camming surfaces formed on said movable member,

a guide plate mounted on the base parallel to said movable member for engaging said flats to prevent rotation of the members having notches formed therein for receiving said flats and permitting rotative move ment of said movable member,

means for axially moving said movable member in a first and second direction to axially move the pro jecting means and camming surfaces,

a first resilient plunger mounted on the base and engaged by the first camming surface axially moving in said first direction to position the flats in alignment with said notches for rotating said member to move said projecting means out of engagement with said articles, and

a second resilient plunger mounted on the base and engaged by the other camming surface axially moving in said second direction to position the flats in alignment with said second notches for rotating said projecting member into position to engage an article upon axial movement of the rod in the first direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,001,332 Ross May 14, 1935 

1. IN AN ARTICLE TRANSFER DEVICE HAVING AN ARTICLE ENGAGING MEMBER MOUNTED ON A ROTATABLY AND AXIALLY MOVABLE ROD, A CAMMING SURFACE FORMED ON SAID ARTICLE ENGAGING MEMBER, A GUIDE MEANS MOUNTED FOR COOPERATION WITH SAID ARTICLE ENGAGING MEMBER TO PREVENT ROTATION OF THE MEMBER DURING AXIAL MOVEMENT OF THE ROD, SAID GUIDE MEANS HAVING A SLOT FORMED THEREIN, MEANS FOR AXIALLY MOVING SAID ROD TO ADVANCE SAID ARTICLE ENGAGING MEMBER INTO ALIGNMENT WITH SAID SLOT, AND 